Volume 9, Number 2 Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Newsletter March 1986

The Extraordinary Synod - A Summary

[Editor'sNote: Three members of the Fellowship's Executive Board attended the ExtraordinarySynod, held in , November 25th-December 8th, 1985. The insights of Fr. Kenneth Baker, S.J., Fr. Michael Wrenn, and Professor Ralph Mcinerney follow. Mr. Robert DiVeroli is a syndicated columnist for several West Coast daily newspapers.]

The Synod interpreted Vatican IIin a particular way-in three documents. First,the message to the world'sfaithfulproposes the Church as the Body of Christ withthe faithfulcalled upon to place themselves . in communion with this Church (Lumen Gentium), . as hearers of God's Word (Dei Verbum), . participating in the holy liturgy (Sacrosanctum Concilium) , . and serviceable to mankind, especially to the poor (Gaudium et Spes). Notice the hierarchy of values. Secondly, "The Final Report"celebrated and confirmed the Second Vatican Council on its 20th anniversary. The participating bishops experienced, what they called, "communion in one spirit, the one faith and hope, and in the one Catholic Church." Unanimously, they willed to translate that Council into the life of the Church. . But they also admitted the estrangement going on in the "First World" and the paradox of a faith enriched by Vatican II in places where people are oppressed. . The Synod spoke, too, of the temptation of consumerism and the misreading of Council documents to explain "shadows in the Council's reception." . Too much renewal identified with external structures and too little with God. . The pastoral charactor of the Council documents cannot be separated from their doctrinal vigor. . In response to the challenge of secularism, the faithful were called upon to look to God and for the Church to manifest better "the sense of the sacred," . To offer mankind "the preambles of faith, to announce Christ's divine sonship and salvation through him." . The Church must call people to holiness by promoting a sense of prayer, adoration, sacrifice, self-giving, charity, justice. We have a tremendous need, said the bishops, of saints and training for spiritual life. . "In the first place it is necessary to promote conjugal spirituality." (Cont.on Pg.3) Volume 9, Number 2 Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Newsletter March 1986

Fellowship of Catholic Scholars - Board of Directors 1986-1988

President Dr. James Hitchcock Rev. Msgr. George A. Kelly Department of History Editor, The FCS Newsletter St. Louis University St. John's University St. Louis, MO 63103 Jamaica, New York 11439 Rev. Ronald Lawler, OFM, Cap. Past President Director, IASCD Rev. Earl A. Weis, S.J. St. John's University Jamaica, NY 11439 Department of Theology Loyola University Chicago, IL 60626 Dr. William E. May Catholic University of America Vice President Department of Theology Dr. Joseph Boyle Washington, D.C. 20064 Department of Philosophy University of St. Thomas Prof. Ralph Mcinerny 3812 Montrose Blvd. University of Notre Dame Houston, TX 77006 Notre Dame, IN 46556

Executive Secretary and Treasurer Rev. Richard Roach, S.J. Dr. Joseph P. Scottino President, Gannon University Jesuit Residence 1404 W. Wisconsin Avenue Erie, PA 16541 Milwaukee, WI 53233 Directors: Rev. William Smith Mother Mary Assumpta, O.P. St. Cecilia St. Joseph's Seminary Dunwoodie Eighth & Clay Streets Nashville TN 37208 Yonkers, New York 10704

Rev. Kenneth Baker, S.J. Rev. Thomas Weinandy, OFM, Cap. Homiletic & Pastoral Review 10200 Battleridge Place 86 Riverside Drive Gaithersburg, MD 20879 New York, NY 10024 Rev. Michael Wrenn Dr. Anne Carson Daly St. Joseph's Seminary University of Notre Dame Dunwoodie Notre Dame, IN 46556 Yonkers, New York 10704

Dr. Robert V. Young North Carolina State University Box 8105 Raleigh, N.C. 27695 Volume 9, Number 2 Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Newsletter March 1986

,The Synod - A Summary (Cont. from Pg. 1) closet. The Synod seems to have done precisely . The sources of Church life are spelled out in this. Henceforth, Vatican II will have to be understood Lumen Gentium, Dei Verbum, and Paul VI's as the Synod Fathers interpreted it in 1985. Evangelii Nuntiandi, all read (especially Scrip- The Council's distortions took many forms. ture) within the living tradition of the Church. Among the most widely disseminated distortions, "The theological discussions of our day have those which have weakened the faith of many Catho- sometimes occasioned confusion among the lics, the following are typical. faithful,"said the final report, which proposed a . "The vocation of the priesthood is not to save catechismas a guide forthe world'sbishops. souls but to build up the community of Christ . Bishopsareto correctliturgicalabuses. on earth."- To this the Synod replied in the . The pluralism of opposed positions leads to name of Vatican II that the Church's vocation destruction and loss of identify. is to be the sign and instrument of holiness. . Episcopal Conferences must serve the good The Church's character is eschatological. of the entire Church and the inalienable respon- (Lumen Gentium Nos. 5 and 7) sibility of each bishop. Their theological status . "The Catholic Church has abandoned her and their doctrinal authority must be studied claim to be the one, unique church estab- further. lished by Christ."- To this the Synod replied . In dealing with the Modern World (Gaudium in the name of Vatican II that the Church is et Spes) preaching should include the theology Christ's body ever present in the midst of of the cross and the social doctrine of the humanity. (Lumen Gentium Chapter I) Church, especially its "preferential option for the . "The Council created a horizontal Church- poor." the people of God church-no longer the . The Church must defend and promote the pyramid Church with bishops and at fundamental and inalienable rights of the the pinnacle."- To this the Synod replied in human person. the name of Vatican II that the is the The third document was John Paul I/'s closing 'subject of supreme and full power in the address, which took note of the "substantial unity" of whole Church.' " (Lumen Gentium, 22) the Synod. . "The Council's declaration on religious liberty . Emphasizing the Church as "the mystical legitimized the right of the faithful, especially Body of Christ," the pope underlined the theologians, to be selective in their obedi- Synod's call for a universal catechism, a ence to Church doctrinal and moral study of the nature of episcopal conferences, norms."- To which the Synod in the name of and the publication of the Oriental Code of Vatican II responded-that it is not licit to Canon Law. choose one document over another, to sepa- . It will be the function of the Secretariat of the rate pastoral practice from doctrinal truth, to Synod to see that the Synod bears fruit. justify "fundamentally opposed positions." In- . John Paul's closing words referred to Vatican deed, Bishops are told correct abuses and II as "a witness concerning Christ, Word In- protect the faithful from dangers to their faith. carnate, who died and has risen from the dead, concerning Christ in whom the Father has loved the world, concerning Christ who has revealed man to himself and his exalted vocation, outside of whom there is no salva- tion." A Call to Action I; A veteran on the Roman scene was heard re- Ii marking at the close of the Extraordinary Synod: "The documents will not be so important as what some- body does about them." That "somebody", of course, is John Paul II and the bishops who are in communion with him. No one can be sure what the Holy Father had in mind when he called for a Synod. Dissenters feared he was about to dismantle Vatican II. (How that could happen is hard to conceive.) Followers of John Paull II hoped he would bring the real Vatican II out of the 3 Volume 9, Number 2 Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Newsletter March 1986

The Synod - A Universal Cathechism

It had rained in Rome ten straight days prior to bulletins a day later. Thus, Cardinal Law's interven- my arrival there Friday morning November 22nd and tion, in an early general congregation of the Synod, would continue on and off right through the opening spoke of the problems of dissent and the need for Synod mass, November 24, con-celebrated with clear identity in Catholic institutions of higher learn- John Paul II by Cardinals and Bishops and priest par- ing. Cardinal Baum's plea for a proper interpretation ticipants. of Dei Verbum which would consider the limits of the At the first press briefing in the Sala Stampa historical-critical method in Scripture research, and (Press Office) situated at the end of the Via Della present a correct understanding of Revelation and In- Conciliazione, I was happy to meet a priest whom I spiration, were in line with a number of other interven- hadn't seen in several years, who also had come to tions from Cardinals and Bishops throughout the be present in Rome during the Synod. I had been told world who also were openly calling for a definition of by a colleague of his that he had just come from a terms consistent with the authentic interpretation of meeting of members of Concilium in Paris. He was of the Second Vatican Council. the opinion that what seemed to be at issue at the But by Tuesday of the second week when the Synod was a move on the part of some circles, who Circuli Minores (the language discussion groups) had accepted a certain amount of ambiguity in the began to report out, a number of developments final drafts of the documents of Vatican II, twenty began to take place which, for the sake of brevity, can years ago, to remove the ambiguities to which they be described quite simply as the Tiber beginning to had originally agreea. flow back into the Rhine. In addition, Bernard Cardi- A little bell sounded in my head when I recalled nal Law would call for a Universal Catechism of the that in the formulation of our own National Catecheti- Second Vatican Council to deal with doctrine regard- cal Directory between 1973-1977 that some ploy of ing Faith and Morals. By the end of the language ambiguity and a desire to satisfy all the various liberal group discussion reports, 8 out of the 9 groups would and conservative currents of thought in the Church in be echoing a similar appeal. On December 7th, dur- the United States was operative in this major religi- ing the Discourse of the Holy Father to the Synod, ous education enterprise. With one difference, how- Pope John Paul II declared: "As to those valuable ever. By the time the Bishops voted on the final draft, suggestions made in the Synod, I wish to extol in the they managed, by means of their amendments, to ap- first place 1) the desire of preparing a Catechism or prove a document which realistically represented the Compendium of the whole of Catholic teaching, to Faith of Our Fathers! which catechisms or compendia of particular A few days later in Rome, one can well imagine Churches may be referred; which desire altogether my surprise - as I read the excellent article by E. J. responds to a genuine necessity of the Universal Dionne, Jr. on the subject of Cardinal Ratzinger in Church and particular Churches."3 The New York Times Magazine for November 24, 1985 - when I came upon the following: "The appeal to literalism is only meant to obstruct or impede a Why Then a Cathechism? reading of the Council Documents which is sensitive It is important to remember that a French Bishop, to their history" says Guiseppe Alberigo a Catholic Jean Marie Lacointe, during the Second Vatican Theologian, at Bologna's Institute for Religious Sci- Council, spoke against the advisability of such a uni- ences.' Today's Conservatives, Mr. Alberigo argues, versal Catechism because of cultural and ethnic dif- are seeking to use phrases inserted in compromise ferences among nations. A General Catechetical Di- Council texts by yesterday's conservatives to win bat- rectory, which was to be the basis for the elaboration tles their side lost twenty years ago. I wondered if Mr. of catechisms and directories by local Churches, was Alberigo had been at this same meeting in Paris with considered to be the answer to these difficulties. my priest friend of years gone by. Our young Times' We might well ask ourselves why, the Universal reporter E. J. Dionne further observed, "If such an ar- Church having published a General CatecheticalDi- gument does take place, in however guarded terms, rectory (1971) and national hierarchies after having the Synod could have a profound effect on the history published their own directories, the Fathers of the Ex- of the Church. Figuring out what Vatican II really traordinary Synod now in 1985 are calling for a Uni- meant, as the Pope has made clear, is a key to chart- versal Catechism or Compendium of doctrine regard- ing the Church's course into the third milennium."2 ing Faith and Morals with approval of the Holy Father. The first week of General Interventions went Had it not been for the Bishops of the United along as scheduled but with more complete details States who, by means of the amendments which they provided by the English speaking briefer, Father Diar- proposed, sought to remove ambiguity in the final muid Martin, than normally appeared in the printed draft of the National Catechetical Directory Book in 4 Volume 9, Number 2 Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Newsletter March 1986

The Synod - A Universal Cathechism

1977, this document might well have been a case in Pro~osed Text point. What follows is an analysis of a rather glaring and persistent case in point. It concerns Pierres Viv- "From always, God loves us. God wishes to antes (Living Stones) intended by the French Hierar- make us his children. He created man and woman chy to be a "Collection of privileged documents of the good and destined them then to live forever in faith." friendship with him. But from the beginning, tempted In 1983, the Sacred Congregation For the Doc- by Satan, they hadn't confided in God and, by dis- trine of the Faith presented its preliminary observa- obeying him, they refused his friendship and coven- tions on a number of inaccuracies and ambiguities ant they wanted 'to be like gods.' Since we are contained in this "texte de reference." A new edition marked, as wounded by this refusal, we are no longer was planned following upon deliberations by the born into the friendship of God, but inclined to evil and French Bishops at Lourdes in October 1984. In a let- subject to death. This is what is called original sin (In ter to the French Hierarchy in 1985, Cardinal Rat- the end)... we are saved. This deliverance from sin zinger indicated that the present intervention of his and this new birth as children of God are given to us Congregation does not amount to a formal approval in Baptism." by the Holy See according to the provisions of Canon p. 38 - Justice - According to Scripture, we 778, paragraph 2 of the Code of Canon Law since may not omit speaking of God's justice as retribution Pierres Vivantes is not a Catechism.4 Cardinal Rat- to each according to his good or bad deeds. zinger then mentions the note attached to his letter to the French Hierarchy. Pro~.rosed Text Bearing the Protocol number 277/67 of the Sa- cred Congregation For the Doctrine of the Faith, the "The Bible speaks to us of the justice of God who note reads: "As in the preceding note of the S.C.D.F. rewards the good and punishes the evil but it speaks annexed to the letter of July 14, 1983, the present ob- to us also of God's justice in an altogether new servations on the new edition of Pierres Vivantes are sense." in two parts: 1) Changes demanded by the Congrega- p. 47 - The Pope - His role is expressed in too tion; 2) Suggestions proposed for improving the subdued a way. text."!;

Pro~.osed Text 1 - Changes Demanded "He is the first of the Bishops. He has the respon- In part one - it is demanded that an explanation sibility for the entire Church throughout the world. He of the notion of biblical inspiration be modified in a is the Pastor of all the Faithful. He teaches and sus- sense more in conformity with Dei Verbum - that is tains all his brethren in the faith and watches over the to say mentioning God as author in the first place and communion between the Diocesan Churches. suppressing the expression "it can be said." p. 56 - Grace - Mention also "actual" grace, the help of God when we need to do good and avoid In the Vocabulary evil. p. 65 - The Covenant - In the Third Paragraph, p. 18 Original Sin - In conformity with Scripture, it is important to express the conversion of bread and it is important to characterize the first sin as disobedi- wine into the Body and Blood of Christ and say, "Do ence (to which the perfect obedience of Jesus stands this in memory of me" "Under the action of the Holy in contrast). The original sin "originatum" is indicated Spirit, the bread and wine become really the Body in too vague a fashion. Certainly the first paragraph and Blood of Christ." describes the human condition after the sin, but with At the end of paragraph 4, suppress "By the ac- an exaggerated expression and as for death which tion of the Holy Spirit, he is really present under the strikes everyone, it can then appear as a natural fact. signs of bread and wine." The inclination to evil and to death would need to be mentioned precisely under R in order to describe p. 67- The Cross - The word obedience does original sin according to the teaching of Saint Paul not figure in the whole vocabulary" and is moreover a and the Faith of the Churches. biblical term, designating a fundamental attitude first Finally, among the words of cross-reference, of all in Jesus. It is also necessary to express sac- there is place for putting "Baptism" and also "Mary" rifice of Jesus as offering of his life (Of Mark 1O,48) (to understand the Immaculate Conception). and therefore to say these lines 12-13: "By the offer-

5 ... Volume 9, Number 2 FeUowship of Catholic Scholars Newsletter March 1986

The Synod - A Universal Cathechism

ing his life through obedience and love, Jesus has re- p. 135 - Mary - What is proper to Mary, is not conciled us with the Father." merely to trust in God, but according to the doctrine of p. 110 - Churches - It is necessary to add to the Church expressed in Lumen Gentium 53-63, her line 7, in conformity with Lumen Gentium n. 8 "This close and indissoluble bond with her Son and his mis- unique Church of Christ is found (or/subsists) in the sion. Catholic Church directed by the Pope, successor of It would seem quite apparent just from these two Peter, and by the Bishops united to him." analyses that in the area of the teaching of matters of p. 113 - Memory - It is important to speak of the Faith, the Catechism or Compendium is really the presence of Jesus in the Sacrament. necessary. In the light of ongoing dissent regarding questions having to do with morality, it would seem all II - Suggestions For The Improvement Of The the more necessary and urgent. What is at stake is Book the unity, identity and uniqueness of the Roman Catholic Church throughout the world. That unique- In the fist part ness is to be found in the Church's difference from all It is truly regrettable that the request of the other ecclesial bodies. Ambiguity in statements about S.C.D.F. for a presentation of Biblical texts according her faith and moral practice will always be counter- to the Order of the History of Salvation, welcomed in productive to that unity" identity and uniqueness! the Old Testament, has not been entirely so for the Fr. Michael Wrenn New Testament, and that the latter begins with the N.Y. Archdiocesan Catecheticallnstitute Kerygma without presenting, in the beginning, the texts on John the Baptist or even a complete account FOOTNOTES of the birth of Jesus. It would be truly desirable that a title or a typo- 1. E. J. Dionne, Jr. "The Pope's Guardian of Or- graphical device clearly indicate the transition be- thodoxy," The New York Times Magazine, November 24, 1985 page 168. tween the Old and New Testament and the passage 2. Ibid. to the New Covenant. 3. Pope John Paul II, Discorso Del Santo Padre AI It would be preferable to begin the Old Testa- Sinodo, 7 December 1985, (Latin Test) Sala Stampa, Santa ment with the account of Creation in Genesis I. Sede, Vaticano, pg. VI. p. 15. - According to Genesis, the sacrifice of 4. "Pierres Vivantes," in L'Homme Nouveau, Juillet- Aout 1985, page 8. Isaac is not an initiative of Abraham; it is demanded 5. Ibid. by God. p. 20. - It is debatable to say that this account of Genesis I has been recorded in the 7th Century in a period of trouble and threats. Moreover the purpose of this passage cannot be reduced to the affirmation of God's faithfulness to His Covenant. p. 72. - Isn't it possible to reproduce the same account of the Ascension according to Luke or Acts.

In the Vocabulary

p. 16 - Lord - The revelation of Jesus as Lord is complete in His Resurrection but it begins with the announcement to Mary and continues in the words and actions of Jesus up to the Cross. p. 18 - Original Sin - This note should, by pre- ference, be referred to the text of Genesis 2 rather than to the 10 Commandments. p. 50 - Miracles - One would be able to men- tion the idea of divine "power" and say "it is a sign of God; it shows the power of God and his love for men." p. 53 - Resurrection/Cure - "There were resur- rections, but they resemble cures." Children are not going to understand that Lazarus or the son of the widow were not really dead.

6 I 1 Volume 9, Number 2 FeUowship of Catholic Scholars Newsletter March 1986

Bless Me Father For I Have Synod

Six hundred special press credentials were is- the real news is hidden. Ideally, you want to get hold of sued for the Second Extraordinary Synod and Arch- secret or unreleased documents, not merely for a bishop Foley, Prefect of the Pontifical Commission scoop, but to expose and uncover the inner suspect for Social Communications, guessed that half these workings of the centers of power. You made a preferen- went to Americans. Since there are two hundred reg- tial option for the little guy, the marginalized, anyone not ular members of the Vatican press corps, this made at the top. In the case of the synod, this meant champ- for a crowd in the Sala Stampa. More reporters, in ioning the bishops, as representatives of the people, fact, than had covered Vatican II and if you laid them against central authority, the Curia, the Pope. end to end Dorothy Parker would not have been a bit The model is political, secular and adversarial. And surprised. To have been numbered among this God bless it. After three months in Argentina, where the throng was not, then, the distinction one tried to make government controls TV, I will happily put up with Sam it seem but, for all that, it was instructive. Donaldson. The question arises as to what the press so I was there as a representative of Catholicism in understood is doing at an event like the Second Extraor- Crisis, not The New Scholasticism, but was not of- dinary Synod. fended when the regular reporters regarded such in- The problem is not the press's. To call a press con- terlopers as myself as, well, interlopers. Actually I ference and tell the assembled reporters that the found the secular press less alien than many in the Church is notto be regarded as a political entity involves Catholic press. It is not that the former snickered less a paradox. It is political entities that call press confer- than the latter when, for example, the Church was re- ences. Why expect the press to reactto this claim other- ferred to as a mystery, but the quality of the ignorance wise than as a plea for special treatment? or hostility or amazement seemed mitigating. It will be said that the Fathers of the Synod wished I wish to draw attention to two things. First, the to communicate with the faithful. Fine, but a major make-up of the press corp that covered the Extraordi- source of difficulties in the Church is that most Catho- nary Synod. Second, the phenomenon of press lics, including the clergy, get most if not all, their Church coverage of such ecclesial events. news through the secular media. This is a distorting, It was difficult not to wonder what prompts a per- hostile lens. The problem cannot be overcome by de- son to become a religious reporter. That is what mo~t nials that the Church is merely a human society, and it is of these people, though not all, were: religious re- exacerbated by attempts to cozy up to the press-as a porters. From news magazines, newspapers, wire cloacal remark by a tough broad in reaction to Bishop services. There were columnists, straight but by-lined Malone's attemptto be chummy in his conference made reporters, radio and TV interviewers. By and large, clear. they were representing the secular media. The solution to this problem is not to be found in the Now if such professionals were a bit disdainful of Catholic press as it now is. It is not simply that the Na- aficionados like myself, it occurred to one to wonder tional Catholic Reporter, represented by the ineffable how they were regarded by others in their own pro- Peter Hebblethwaite, and others, and old stalwarts like fession. Sports, political news, movie reviewing, Commonweal andAmerica, are all but indistinguishable outer space, sure, but religious reporting? It did not in their hostilityfrom their secular brethren,the diocesan take an effort of imagination to guess the professional weeklies seem little better. There are many disaffected status of the group. believers and ex-clerics in the secular press corps, but The main reason for this can be found in the pro- to have an axe-grinder like Hebblethwaite covering file of the people in the media, of the "elite" studied a Rome (from Oxford) for a purportedly Catholic publica- few years ago. To say that the center of gravity of the tion is comic. It is serious, however,that those in control Third Estate makes it of the earth earthy is an under- of diocesan papers seem for the most part in thrall to the statement. As a class reporters espouse, in morals very "spirit" of Vatican II the extraordinary synod was and general outlook, the viewpoint that has come to called to check. be called Secular Humanism. To such minds, religion The Synod Fathers advocated a more effective use has whatever residual importance it has to the degree of the media. Imaginewhat that sounds like to the surlier that it supports the liberal agenda. Bultmanian at bot- types in the Sala Stampa. I see here one more ex- tom, they would assume that all the talk of grace and tremely difficult task for our bishops, and for Archbishop mystery and miracle and the next world can be made Foley. Communication with the faithful must be through to stand for something intelligible, i.e., secular. trustworthy media-meaning that bishops are going to Imagine yourself a memberof the classthat covers have to monitor more carefully their diocesan papers. religious news. The workaday skepticism of the press The NCR and its ilk will fade away at an even faster as it coverssecular news must be manifest in your man- rate as time passes. Perhaps some of yesteryear's ner. Briefings are concealings, handouts are coverups, (Con't on Page 8)

7 ..... Volume 9, Number 2 Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Newsletter March 1986

The Synod - From the Sidelines

The depth of the Catholic problem can be meas- constitution (hierarchical), about its function (holi- ured by the resentment of opinion-molders entrusted ness here, salvation hereafter) and about its creed, with important roles in the Catholic media. What code, and cult, which contained disagreeable abso- should one think of the Jesuit editor who, hear- lutes, which must be eliminated. ing an official explanation of Cardinal Baum's So the questions remaining may be, not what to schema on Catholic higher education, responds do with the secular press, but with Catholic opinion aloud: "Absurd?" Or, the diocesan editor, who during molders who have no intention of permitting the the Synod reacted to Rome's appointment of an aux- Church a fair hearing? How long, a Lord, do you iliary bishop to Seattle: "If JP II continues with that dialogue with hostile priests and religious? And, what kind of thing, he'll ruin the Church." To which a vet- is the significance of the fact that the English-speak- eran syndicated columnist added: "He (the future ing bishops, of all the world's hierarchy, were the only bishop) better not step out of line." The Jesuit editor bishops opposed to a universal catechism. of America even permitted his venom to spill over into When all is said and done these may be the print. Identifying the Vatican as the Church's Navy, questions crying for immediate answers. George Hunt wondered aloud whether the Holy See (read JP II) is more concerned with "the security of - George A. Kelly the fleet or just the flagship." Hunt also concluded that during the Synod Ratzinger was "trampled to death." (America, December 14,1985, p. 413) Msgr. Philip Delhaye, Secretary of the In- Almost no one but the press spoke of the Synod ternational Theological Commission, was the in these terms. Kenneth Briggs of the NY Times sol- only intervenor at the Extraordinary Synod, who emnly declared a split among the Synod Bishops, thought important misconceptions derived from which never took place. One Roman daily went so far several things the Council did and did not do- as to say: "Ratzinger line triumphed." The British overemphasis on the grandeur of mankind, a Broadcasting Corporation announced that the Synod failure to include a section on the Church's "gave no comfort to reformers and liberals in the moral teaching, and to develop the role of the Church." Another Italian newspaper, /I Messagero, priest in the Church. headlines the news, "People of God Church en- (Can'tfrom Page7) tombed." However this is not how most Romans saw the giants in the Catholic press will regain their souls. Inthe Synod, perhaps because they do not look at the meantime, thank God for the unprejudiced reporters in Church as just another institution, vulnerable to twists the secular press (E.J. Dionne of the New York Timesis and turns decreed by elites. The Synod paid more at- an improvementover Ken Briggs now with, suprise, sur- tention to God than to man, an emphasis hardly likely prise, the Reporter. On the West Coast, Bob Di Veroli of to make headlines. Although the Synod's recognition the San Diego Tribuneis a standout.) Thank God for the of Catholic and especially of Catholic women, National Catholic Register and Fidelity and Catholic was clear enough, the editor's lust for women priests Eye. There is another one, too, a monthy, with a some- (the news story) was not satisfied. what hysterical name, founded by Michael Novak and... When all is said and done why should Bishops But you know the one I mean. trim Catholic policy to please the press? One col- -Ralph Mcinerny (Member of the Fellowship umnist found it incredible that U.S. media men were Board, Michael P. Grace Professor of Medieval Studies so illiterate about the Church doctrines they were ex- at the University of Notre Dame.) pected to report on. They would be barred from the Pentagon if they did not know the difference between a bullet and a bomb, but here they were in Rome cov- ering a Catholic Synod without knowing the differ- ence between a sacrament and a sacramental. But, then, many of these seculars, simply by reading lead- ing Catholic journals, had been led to believe that the primitive Church was primitive, until Constantine came along, leading to Roman Imperialists, Emperor- Popes and ultimately to monarch bishops. The cen- terpiece of Christianity, Rome, therefore, had to be wrong-about its foundations (in Christ), about its

, 8 II Volume 9, Number 2 Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Newsletter March 1986

The Extraordinary Synod: The Church, Mystery and Communion

During the 1985 Synod on the Second Vatican The Church is not just an external institution. The Council the Fathers, as might be expected, used Bishops at the Synod take responsibility for the fact many images to describe the Church. One heard the that the young "consider the Church a pure institu- expressions: body of Christ, temple of God, people of tion." They then ask: "Have we not perhaps favored God, and even family of God (especially from the Afri- this opinion in them by speaking too much of the re- cans). But by far the most common expressions were newal of the Church's external structures and too lit- that the Church is "mystery" and "communion." The tle of God and of Christ?" (FR, 1,4). What the Bishops image of the Church as "the people of God," common admitted in the Synod, therefore, is that there has during Vatican II and enshrined as the title of chapter been an overemphasis on "external structures" II of Lumen Gentium, was rarely used. (synods, episcopal conferences, diocesan and parish No one image can express the whole reality of councils, committees and commissions) and a ne- the Church; many are required; they complement glect of proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. "The each other, since each one brings out a different as- Church makes herself more credible if she speaks pect of the many-splendored reality which is the less of herself and ever more preaches Christ Church of Jesus Christ. There is no doubt that the Crucified (cf. 1 Cor. 2:2) and witnesses with her own image "people of God" has had great influence on life" (FR, II, A,Z). ecclesiology and theology in general during the past The Fathers then go on to say that "The whole twenty years; it brought out aspects of the Church importance of the Church derives from her connec- which had been neglected for centuries. At the same tion with Christ... Jesus Christ is ever present in his time, a one-sided use of the expression tended to Church and lives in her as risen... there are always obscure the essential role of the hierarchy. Some present within the Church the mystery of the Cross have used the expression to portray the Church as a and the mystery of the resurrection" (FR, II, A,3). democracy, or worse, to describe it in marxist terms From these statements, and from others like them, in support of the ideological "Popular Church" of Cen- one detects a strong emphasis in this Synod on the tral America and elsewhere. spiritual-mysteriousdimension of the Church, with a There was a noticeable tendency at the recent corresponding de-emphasis on the socio-political as- Synod to avoid using the image "people of God." Im- pects. For this reason, I think the Synod signals shift ages of the Church manifest a certain ecclesiology. in ecclesiology among the Bishops. The preferred terms for the Church at the 1985 Synod Because the Church is mystery, "she must be were mystery and communion. This signals, it seems considered a sign and instrument of holiness" (FR, II, to me, a shift in ecclesiology on the part of the A,4). The Fathers then stress the call of all to holiness bishops representing all the episcopal conferences in (cf. LG 5). "The Church must preserve and energeti- the world. Let us consider what they said and what cally promote the sense of penance, prayer, adora- they meant. (All references are the "The Final Report" tion, sacrifice, self-giving, charity and justice." (FR, II, of the Synod, abbreviated as FR; see Origins, Dec. A,4). They say that popular devotion "is very useful in 19,1985, Vol. 15, No. 27, pp. 444-450.) nourishing the holiness of the people" and therefore The Mystery of the Church in Christ "merits greater attention on the part of pastors" A mystery is that which is hidden; it can be some- (Ibid.). thing that is not now known by human intelligence but Speaking about themselves, the bishops say: "It basically knowable through research (like certain life is extremely necessary that the Pastors of the Church processes), or something that is completely incom- excel in the witness of holiness" (FR, II, A,5). This is prehensible - something that cannot be known by followed by a brief exhortation to holiness on the part human reason. In the latter category are the mys- of priests, religious, laity, and married couples. Since teries of the , Incarnation, and grace. So God the Bishops see the Church as mystery in Christ, they Himself is mysterious. Since Jesus Christ is both God move immediately to the universal call to holiness. So and man, He is mysterious; He is mystery. ,The we have four ideas closely linked together: Christ, Church, as St. Paul says, is the body of Christ. He is mystery, Church, and holiness. the Head, and those who are incorporated "in" Him through faith and baptism are the living members of The Church as Communion in Christ. His body, the Church. In a certain sense, the Church The Church was frequently referred to as "com- is the presence of Christ in history, past, present and munion." The term of course is related to "Holy Com- future. Therefore, since Christ is mystery and since munion" (Body and Blood of Christ), but in this con- the Church is the presence of Christ in time and text it means more than that. When the Church is space, it follows that the Church is mystery. called "mystery," it is the internal nature or structure

9 Volume 9, Number 2 Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Newsletter March 1986

The Extraordinary Synod: The Church, Mystery and Communion

that is being considered. When the Church is called find the Synod of Bishops, episcopal conferences, "communion," our attention is directed both to our the Roman Curia, "ad limina" visits to Rome. These union with God through divine grace and our union actualizations of the collegial spirit "cannot be directly with one another since, being united in God, we are deduced from the theological principle of collegiality; also thereby united with one another; in this sense but they are regulated by ecclesiallaw" (Ibid.). There- the Church is "we"; we are together in the same divine fore, there is no necessary connection between colle- reality so we are "communion" or "union with others." giality and episcopal conferences; this would seem to The section in "The Final Report" that deals with contradict those who claim that episcopal confer- the Church as communion is the longest in the docu- ences have a theological basis in collegiality. What ment. The Fathers say in the first place that "The they do is manifest the "collegial spirit" as instru- ecclesiology of communion is the central and funda- ments of collective pastoral activity. Thus the Synod mental idea of the Council's documents" (FR, II, C,1). says: "The collegial spirit has a concrete application And what is communion? "Fundamentally it is a mat- in the episcopal conferences the bishops of a nation ter of communion with God through Jesus Christ, in or a territory jointly exercise their pastoral service the Holy Spirit. This communion is had in the Word of (CD 38; CIC can. 447)" (FR, II, C,5). God and in the sacraments... The communion of the Since the Church is communion, the Bishops eucharistic Body of Christ signifies and produces, conclude that "there must be participation and co-re- that is, builds up, the intimate communion of all the sponsibility at all of her levels" (lbid.,6). This regu- faithful in the Body of Christ which is the Church (1 lates the relations between a bishop and his priests, Cor. 10:16)" (FR, II, C,1). and between the laity and clerics. One point that The ecclesiology of communion is more than just came out often at the Synod was the increased in- a matter of external organization, or a question of volvement of the laity in all aspects of Church life - powers - what belongs to the Pope, what to bishops, and the Bishops welcomed it. Women are encour- what to priests, and so forth. Since the Church is also aged "to playa greater part in the various fields of the a society with human persons as members, the Church's apostolate," and pastors are encouraged to ecclesiology of communion is the foundation for order "accept and promote the collaboration of women in in the Church, or, more properly, for the Sacrament of ecclesial activity" (Ibid.). Orders; it also is the basis for the correct relationship Finally, the Fathers say that the ecumenical con- betweenunityand pluriformity(or diversity). . sciousness and activity of the past twenty years are One baptism and one eucharist signify and build based on the ecclesiology of communion. Following up the unity and uniqueness of the Church. Hierarchi- their treatment of the Church as communion, they cal unity is guaranteed through mutual love of the offer three suggestions to the Holy Father: 1) that the Bishops with one another and their union with Peter, Code of Canon Law for the Oriental Church be com- who is the center of unity given to us by Christ. Since pleted as quickly as possible; 2) that the theological the one Eucharist is celebrated in various places, "the "status" and doctrinal authority of episcopal confer- unique and universal Church is truly present in all the ences be studied further; 3) that a study be made to particular Churches (CD 11)" (FR, II, C,3). From this examine whether or not the principle of subsidiarity we derive the true theological principle of variety and (now applied to human society) can be applied to the pluriformity in unity, excluding all pluralism of funda- Church, and if so, in what way (lbid.,8). mentally opposed positions. Here we find the Because of its emphasis on the Church as "mys- theological basis of different rites and customs in the tery" and "communion," the 1985 Synod on the Sec- various particular Churches. ond Vatican Council may represent a turning point in The Fathers also say that "The ecclesiology of the theology of the Church which has been dominant communion provides the sacramental foundation of since 1965. Now the signs of the times are different. It collegiality" (FR, II, C,4). This means that, from a seems to me that there was a psychological shift at theological point of view, there is more to collegiality the Synod away from intense concern about external than its juridical codification. The Fathers make an structures and activity to a more interior, spiritual un- important distinction between "collegial action in the derstanding of the Church as the mysterious pre- strict sense" and "the collegial spirit." The former sence of Christ in history - a presence that calls all means the activity of the whole college, together with to be saints. In time, this new understanding will work its head, the Pope, over the entire Church. This is itself out in practical applications, such as the recom- found primarily in an ecumenical council such as Vat- mended universal catechism of doctrine and morals, ican II. From such collegiality the Bishops distinguish the theological status of episcopal conferences, a number of partial realizations of collegiality, which popular devotions, and emphasis on the call to holi- are signs of the collegial spirit. In this category we ness for all Christians. - Kenneth Baker, S.J.

10 Volume 9, Number 2 Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Newsletter March 1986

The Extraordinary Synod: A Reporter's Assessment

What happens next? God": largely ignored. That's the question that faces the Catholic It is sometimes said that it's up to the laity to stiff- Church today in the wake of the recent extraordinary en up church resolve. That may be true, but the plain synod of bishops. fact is that Catholics - even those who recognize the The bishops had their say. The pope had his say. crisis facing the church - are too passive to do any- And after nearly two weeks of talk, the most important thing about it. thing they said was that the church needs a catech- The synod did other things besides call for the ism or compendium of theology to state Catholic new catechism. For one, it ringingly endorsed Vati- teachings clearly for all to see. This was nothing less can II. It also dealt a blow to the democratic model of than an acknowledgment that many Catholics today the church by repeatedly distinguishing between the no longer know for certain what the Catholic Church church as a "communio" and a "mystery" and those teaches on a variety of doctrinal and moral matters. social institutions which man can make and remake This state of affairs cannot be blamed on Vatican at will. You didn't hear much about the "people of II because Vatican II changed no doctrines. God." It can be blamed on a false interpretation of the The synod gave short shrift to liberation theol- so-called "spirit," of the council by which theologians, ogy. Episcopal conferences - a promise was made to seminary faculty, college professors and parochial study the matter further. But it's doubtful that the school teachers felt justified in discarding traditional study will center on "greater authority" for the confer- church teachings in favor of their own. ences. Implicitly, the bishops also acknowledged their Although the synod said women should have "a own responsibility to see to it that what is taught in larger part in the various fields of the Apostolate of Catholic educational institutions is what the church the Church," this is unlikely to dispose of an increas- says should be taught rather than what the theolo- ingly troublesome issue: feminism in the church. gians say should be taught. Much grief lies ahead for the church on this front. Catholic college professors openly dissent from Bernard F. Law of Boston was impressive. He church teachings on contraception, abortion, divorce corrected the notion that Cardinal Ratzinger was a and pre-marital sex. Doubts are cast on Jesus' divin- "pessimist," describing him instead as a "realist" in ity and Resurrection. The supernatural elements in his assessment of the crisis facing the church. the Bible are explained away. Jesus walked on Law said the episcopal conference study would water? Never happened. Jesus raised Lazarus from probably zero in on the role such conferences play, the dead? Never happened. The Ten Plagues in not on whether they might acquire even greater au- Exodus? Israelite inventions, all having a "natural" thority. explanation. The Tenth Plague, in fact, might have It was also Law who advanced the idea of a "uni- been the work of an Israeli terrorist band! versal catechism" for the entire church. Lots of Catholics have lots of horror stories to For those with eyes to see and ears to hear, a tell. They can also cite chapter and verse why the new star for the American hierarchy was born at the new catechism is so desperately needed. But at this synod. Its name is Law. point it is not at all certain that such a catechism won't - RobertD. Veroli end up like Pope Paul VI's "Credo for the People of The Tribute(SanDiego) Items of Interest A little more than ten years ago Apostolic Dele- "Scholars Put Jesus' Quotes to Test," ran the gate Jean Jadot requested American bishops to "fol- headline in the St. Louis Post Dispatch. Thirty bible low more closely the teaching of theology in Catholic scholars met at St. Meinrad's Seminary at last year's colleges and universities" and where necessary to end to decide which sayings of the Sermon on the establish an episcopal vicar for doctrine who would Mount belong to Jesus and which were the make-ups do this for them. of the gospel writers. "Blessed were the peacemak- In this he was reinforcing a point Paul VI made ers" was out, so were most of the "Woes." "The meek clear to the Rector of the Catholic University of Lou- shall inherit the earth" received only 6 votes out of 30 vain (September 13,1975): cast. "Blessed are the poor" was resoundingly in. The "Theology is not a private affair: what is not in the organizers wanted biblical scholarship to reach the Church and for the Church is no longer theology. The Church's mainline. theologian's responsibility lies with the 'communio ecclesiae'."

11 Volume 9, Number 2 Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Newsletter March 1986

Ninth Convention - Fellowship of Catholic Scholars

September 26th, 27th, 28th, 1986 Theme: The Spiritual Life of Catholics The Roosevelt Madison Avenue at 45th Street Program Chairman , New York 10017 Fr. Kenneth Baker,S.J. (212) 661-9600

Friday, September 26th, 1986 Scarborough Centenary Hospital, Toronto 1 p.m.-4 p.m. Registration - Promenade Suite (Mezzanine) Presentation: Professor Rhonda Chervin 2 p.m. Meeting of the Board of Directors Loyola-Marymount College, LA. 4 p.m. Spiritual Renewal and the Reform of Social Institutions Discussant: Mr. Kevin Perrotta Professors Christopher Wolfe (Marquette), Chairman Center for Pastoral Renewal, Ann Arbor "Ratzinger and Liberation Theology" Brian Benestad 2:30 Morality - The Basis of Spirituality - Oval Room (Scranton) and John Guegen (Illinois State); "U.S. Moderator: Sr. Miriam Paul Klaus, M.D. Economic Pastoral" Carl Anderson (White House) National Planning Center, Washington, D.C. and Regis Factor (South Florida); "The Synod and Presentation: Professor John Haas Social Teaching" (TBA) - Oval Room (Main Floor) Josephinum Seminary, Columbus 4 p.m. Spirituality and the Catholic Literary Tradition: Percy, Discussant: Professor Joseph Boyle Houselander, Newman St. Thomas Univarsity, Houston Professors Carson and Maura Daly, Chairpersons- 4:15 Coffee Break Madison Room (Mezzanine) 4:30 Spiritual Direction Through Catholic Education - Co- Friday Evening lonial Room - Main Floor) 8 p.m. Keynote Address: Moderator: Fr. Brian Van Hove, S.J. Trends in Catholic Spirituality Since Vatican ll- Oval St. Church, St. Louis Room Presentation: Professor Jude Dougherty, Catholic The Most Rev. Edward Egan, D.O., J.C.D., Vicar for University of America Education, Archdiocese of New York - Oval Room Discussant: Professor Joseph Schwartz 9:30 p.m. Oval Room - Reception Marquette University Saturday Evening 1986 Saturday Morning, September 27th, 5:30 Reception - Colonial Room 7 a.m. Concelebrated Mass - St. Patrick's Cathedral 6 p.m. Banquet - Cardinal Wright Award - Oval Room (Lady Chapel) 8:30 The Church's Spiritual Mission to the Poor- Colonial 9 a.m. Spiritualityand the SacramentalLife of the Church - Room Oval Room Moderator: Professor Charles Dechert Moderator: Rev. H. Vernon Sattler, C.SS.R., Univer- Catholic University of America sity of Scranton Presentation: Fr. Bruce Ritter, OFM Conv. Presentation: Fr. Thomas Weinandy, OFM Cap. Covenant House, New York City Loyola College (Baltimore) Discussant: Fr. Francis Canavan, S.J. Discussant: Mother Assumpta Long, O.P. Prioress General, Nashville Dominicans Fordham University 11:00 Coffee Break 10 p.m. Reception Sunday Morning, September 28th, 1986 11:15 Spiritual Direction in the Church - Oval Room Moderator: Professor Paul Vitz Morning Prayersand Meditation- Oval Room Introduction: Sr. Theresa Catherine Shea, O.P. New York University Presentation: Fr. John Sheets, S.J. Molloy College Bishop Sean O'Malley, OFM Cap. Creighton University Discussant: Fr. John Mcivor Bishop of the Virgin Islands 10:00 Mass - St. Patrick's Cathedral John Neumann Seminary John Cardinal O'Connor - Chief Celebrant 12:30 Lunch at will and Homilist Saturday Afternoon 12:00 Lunch at will Spiritual Life in the Family - Oval Room 1 p.m. Business Meeting - Oval Room Moderator: John Shea, M.D. 3p.m. Closing

12

- Volume 9, Number 2 Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Newsletter March 1986

Germain Grisez on Fundamentalism

[Editor's Note: In recent months the word "fundamentalism" has surfaced in several Catholic controversies. Cus- tomarily, fundamentalists are called bible Christians because they interpret the sacred books literaily or strictly. Fun- damentalists are mostly Protestants who claim or have no authority for their faith other than the Bible. It is not unusual for that word to be applied, also, to Catholics who believe it is objectively true that Mary was a real virgin, that Jesus actually founded the Church. The Spring 1985 issue of a new magazine called "Church" identifies fundamentalism with rigidity and conservatism. Says author Fr. Thomas O'Meara, O.P.: "The life of such a conservative is a lazy one in which thin beliefs and vague pieties replace theology. Those who welcome this new conservative are encouraging men with little maturity or talent for serving as priests in today's church." Fr. O'Meara, who has been substitute rector of Notre Dame's seminary, was supported in these views by Fr. Richard McBrien in his weekly diocesan newspaper column (November 5, 1985), which was introduced with the headline: "Rectors advised to diligently weed out fun- damentalists in ranks since 'rigid people' have no value as pastoral ministers." It is common knowledge that some major seminaries and religious communities are already weeding out candi- dates who manifest an interest in the Church's authentic teaching or in , that the Holy See is already con- ducting an investigation of U.S. seminaries with a view to rooting out inauthentic teaching. We have asked Dr. Grisez to answer the question: "What is fundamentalism?" What follows here is an abridged version of chapter twenty, appendix two, of his The Way of the Lord Jesus: Christian Moral Principles (Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press, $35.00)]

The quest for the understanding of the faith pre- is to be possible and worth carrying on. But usually supposes the acceptance of the truths of faith. One those who engage in dialectic are not purely seekers cannot undertake to understand what one believes of wisdom as Plato was; rather, they think that in unless one believes some propositions. some way they have ultimate truth. Although this position might seem self-evident, Christians believe God has given humankind some today deny it. Noticing that faith is a personal wisdom in the person of our Lord, Jesus Christ (see 1 relationship with God, they exclude from faith itself all Cor. 1.18-2.16); Catholics believe that truths which propositional content. To the extent that faith pertains belong to this wisdom are present in the belief and to the mind, they reduce it to a kind of experience of teaching which come to us in the Church from the God, a preconceptual and extrapropositional religi- apostles (see DS 1501/738, 3006/1787; DV 7-10). ous sense. The propositions which the Church be- Therefore, Catholic theology is a dialectical reflection lieves and hands on as truths of faith are, on this which begins not only from the belief that the quest view, only symbols or inadequate representations, for wisdom is possible and worthwhile, but also from which never fully express faith itself. the belief that God has mercifully responded to Those who advocate a nonpropositional notion humankind's quest for wisdom. In theology, every of faith should be asked several questions. First, pre- past linguistic expression is open to examination and cisely what is faith on this view, and how can one tell improvement; every proposition which does not whether one has it or not? Second, can an individual somehow pertain to faith is open to denial if it should refuse to believe? If so, how? Third, how can anyone turn out to be incompatible with a truth of faith; every comunicate the faith? How can any group hold the truth of faith is open to development as the Church same faith? Fourth, how can any proposition sym- gradually grows in understanding of God's revelation bolize or express faith? Exactly what is the supposed in Jesus. But not every proposition is open to denial, relationship between faith and expression? Fifth, how for then the proposition that God has revealed him- can one tell whether one or another expression is self would be open to denial, and one's inquiry would more or less appropriate? not be theological. Careful reflection upon such questions will make Similarly, in Catholic theology, the truths the it clear that, although Christian faith is much more Catholic Church proposes for belief cannot be de- than assent to a set of propositions, anything called nied. Some today, however, seem to reject certain "faith" which does not include propositional content truths of Catholic faith, yet say they do not deny what will be something completely different from what is the Church believes, but only reinterpret it. What are called "faith" in the Bible and in the whole of Catholic we to make of this? tradition. It is possible for a person, like Plato, to carry Certainly, more careful interpretation of the on dialectical inquiry without accepting many pro- documents of faith can throw new light on old truths positions as certainly true; indeed, Plato perhaps as- without contradicting them. But some people actually sumed as truths which could never be contradicted do deny the factual content of faith and continue to only the things which must be so if dialectical inquiry accept only certain general propositions entailed by

13 Volume 9, Number 2 FeUowship of Catholic Scholars Newsletter March 1986 Germain Grisez on Fundamentalism

the Church's beliefs. They seem to feel a need to tained; and there must never be any deviation from eliminate from faith everything which is factually that meaning on the specious grounds of a more pro- unique, since the factually unique cannot be reduced found undertanding" (OS 3020/1800; cf. 3043/1818). to °a phase in a rational system. For example, some Plainly, John XXIII is not opening the door to a merely writers say they reinterpret the doctrine of the resur- verbal fidelity which would give the Church's defini- rection of Jesus; they fail to affirm (or they even deny) tions of faith and her common, even if nondefinitive, that he is not dead now; they accept a general prop- ways of expressing her belief a meaning different osition, such as that Jesus plays a vital role in the re- from the one the Church understood when those ex- ligious lives of his followers, which is entailed by the pressions were used prior to the opening of Vatican traditional teaching; and they claim that their account II. . of the role Jesus plays in the lives of his followers is a Anyone who claims only to reinterpret the reinterpretation of the traditional doctrine of the re- Church's beliefs yet seems to deny any aspect of surrection-a reinterpretation which at last arrives at them should be asked: Is yours the only reinterpreta- its true meaning, after nearly two thousand years of tion of this doctrine or are there possibly others? In naive misunderstandings. any case in which the deceptive procedure is used, This procedure is deceptive. Catholic faith is not there can be plural stories, each of them inconsistent simply belief in a system of general propositions, but with the others. The next question is: By what stand- in the flesh and blood reality of the revelation of God ard is your reinterpretation to be judged better or in the Lord Jesus. We cling to the Word Incarnate, to worse than any alternative? If the answer is: By the the intactness of his mother's virginity, to the bloody standard of the witnesses of faith, interpreted as the reality of his death, to his fleshly risen life, to his bodi- Church understands them, then one is dealing with a ly presence in the Eucharist, to the death-dealing ef- legitimate theological effort. If the answer is: By the fect of our first parents' sin, to the life-giving power of standard of modern science, or by the standard of our Lord's risen body for our dead bodies, and to the credibility to the contemporary mind, or by the stan- confident hope that we shall embrace him in the flesh. dard of relevance to current problems, or anything of Catholic faith is not afraid of what is too concrete to this sort-anything except the witnesses of faith un- be intelligible. We kneel before matter: the Word derstood as the Church understands them-then one made flesh. is dealing with something other than a legitimate Vatican I already condemns anyone who "says theological effort. that as science progresses it is sometimes possible Often enough, those who claim to reinterpret the for dogmas that have been proposed by the Church Church's beliefs but really deny them fail to ask to receive a different meaning from the one which the themselves the question about a standard; they offer Church understood and understands" (OS 3043/ no decision procedure for one who wishes to com- 1818). In a famous statement at the beginning of Vati- pare and critically evaluate so-called reinterpreta- can II, John XXIII calls for a suitable restatement of tions. In the absence of a decision procedure, rein- Catholic teaching. But he points out that this is only terpretation is not science, not dialectic, not a disci- possible because "the deposit or the truths of faith, plined form of inquiry at all. Rather, it is a form of contained in our sacred teaching, are one thing, while storytelling, a poor kind of fiction. the mode in which they are enunciated, keeping the -Germain Grisez same meaning and the same judgment, is another." By making this statement its own (see GS 62), Vati- can II enhanced its importance. However, this statement of Pope John's often has been mistranslated and misrepresented. He is making it clear that the propositional truths of faith are distinct from their linguistic expression. The phrase, "keeping the same meaning and the same judgment," usually is omitted by those who misinterpret this statement, because it would block the misinterpreta- tion. This phrase is a clear allusion to the classic statement of St. Vincent of Lerins (see FEF 2174) which Vatican I cites when it teaches that the "mean- ing of the sacred dogmas that has once been de- those same people. We all 'ard to judgment day." clared by holy Mother Church, must always be re- ",fr,~, d',~"~,, ""d, , ,',d~,''~"",,~ "

14 - III Volume 9, Number 2 Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Newsletter March 1986

Second Draft of Bishops' Economic Pastoral

A Review by Professor Charles R. Dechert hardened into an uncritical support of labor unions, even in situations where their institutional power has It is clear that careful attention has been paid to been used to create an extremely highly paid industri- critiques of the First Draft, released in November al "labor elite" that is increasingly non-competitive, 1984. The more specific and focussed the critical resulting in the "de-industrialization" of America as in- comment had been - the more likely it was ac- dustrial products are imported and Americans ever cepted. The revised draft is appreciably shorter, more more provide services rather than goods. clearly concerned with the moral and religious impli- The Second Draft, even more strongly than the cations of economic activity, somewhat less tenden- First, demonstrates an animus against military and tiously collectivist in orientation, far more cautious in defense spending. It reemphasizes its demand for its analysis and in its use of statistical and other "fac- "infrastructure" projects that can provide public em- tual" data. ployment to large numbers of unskilled and unedu- The Second Draft is divided into five Chapters. cated persons under controlled conditions. The first two are largely unexceptional statements of Business"oriented critics see in the Letter's modern Catholic social teaching, and the last an equation of economic and civil rights, coupled with a exhortation to a change of heart. The third chapter demand for "economic participation," a thinly dis- "Selected Economic Issues" comprises about 40 per- guised plea for a state-controlled economy that would cent of the text and, as before, the Drafting Commit- lose its flexibility, efficiency and market responsive- tee's perspective, analysis and recommendations ness in the service of utopian goals. They deplore the continue to be the focus of outside criticism. A fourth Bishops' seeming acceptance of the American "lib- chapter recommends a move toward broader eral" thesis that men are the plastic products of social cooperative and consultative institutions at the na- forces, that poverty, squalor, moral misery, family tional and international levels. dissolution, disease, ignorance and imcompetence The American "liberal," that is Social Democra- are, by and large, somebody else's fault. tic, orientation of the Drafting Committee (and of the The American public at both the policy and popu- professional support staff responsible for responding lar level is now in the midst of a critical re-evaluation to criticisms) remains clear, but the rhetoric that could of America's experience with the Welfare State which be interpreted as a call for class warfare and a repudi- ation of the institutional bases of American affluence the Bishops consider an overall success. There is a growing awareness of the increasing importance of have been replaced by a more eirenic, communitar- the "Underground Economy"-a novel (for the U.S.) ian, even populist rhetoric closer to the mainstream response to a tax/state-spending structure deemed of modern Catholic social analysis. There is an in- inequitable, of staggering balance-of-trade deficits creased emphasis on the human dimension of the and of the non-competitiveness of some unionized in- economy, the need for limits (as opposed to "amass- dustry. Most Americans are concerned about na- ing as much as possible" p. 60) for social solidarity tional security and a "correlation of forces" increas- at the face-to-face and local community levels, for ingly favoring the geopolitical pretensions of the family, for enterprise on a modest scale widely dif- U.S.S.R. None of these concerns finds resonance in fused in society. Interestingly enough, early criticism of the sec- the Bishops' statement. Quite the contrary. Many of ond draft by the American business community is fo- the policies supported by the Bishops seem to reflect cussing on the Bishops emphasis on economic rights and justify past policies that have produced a social and participation in economic decision-making. This and moral malaise without precedent in America. Some American Catholics are fearful that the seems odd at a time when U.S. business is beginning to recognize that Japan's competitive edge is in part valid content of Catholic Social Teaching will be lost due to worker motivation based on participation, and in and confused with policy analysis and recommen- in adopting participative mechanisms like productiv- dations that reflect a commitment to positions on is- ity committees. The Draft Letter's support of initatives sues of defense, welfare, taxation, and ever-more in- like worker ownership of plants acquired from large trusive government, that even the Democratic Party companies (e.g. Ford) and reorganized to make them finds unappealing. globally competitive, in part through modified work Perhaps the Bishops would be better advised to rules, indicates an increased awareness of economic restrict themselves to general moral principles, en- realities in America. On the other hand, the American courage serious scholarship and policy analysis in Catholic Church's institutional support of organized America's Catholic universities and eschew the labor, certainly justified in the heroic hundred year temptation to be political movers and shakers, while struggle for social justice in an industrial society, has risking their credibility as moral leaders.

15 Volume 9, Number 2 Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Newsletter March 1986 Books Received

. Mathew F. Murphy, Betraying the Bishops: The Vlastislav J. Chalupa, a political refugee, has Teaching of the U. S. Bishops, (Ethics and Public Pol- published The Rise and Development of a Totalita- icy Center, D.C., 1030 15th Street, N.W. Washington, rian State. D.C-) Matthew Murphy, a member of the Fellowship, is Humberto Belli, Breaking Faith: The Sandinista also a Public Information Officer with the U.S. Arms Revolution and its Impact on Freedom and Christian Control and Disarmament Agency. As a visiting Fel- Faith in Nicaragua, (The Pueblo Institute, P.O. Box low with the American Enterprise Institute he de- 520, Garden City, MI 48135, 271 pp., $8.95, dis- veloped the thesis that many of those responsible for counts available) teaching the Pastoral Letter of War and Peace are Mr. Belli's second book on Nicaragua is more betraying the bishops' purpose in writing it. After de- compelling than his first. A one-time editorialist for La tailing the process by which the "peace pastoral" Prensa, and a supporter of social reform, the author came to be, he examines the material used by the puts together sixteen well developed chapters on USCC, the various dioceses, and the NCEA over Nicaragua's two decade struggle for freedom, the eight chapters. rise of Sandinismo power, with successive chapters Fellowship members can obtain discounts for dealing with the Soviet connection, state unionism, bulk orders. Mr. Murphy has a book which will raise state press, managed economy, human rights, con- interest and not a few hackles. flict with the Church, the Pope's visit, before and after. Richard John Neuhaus says: "North Americans P. J. Kavanagh, A Chesterton Anthology, (515 must simply attend to Humberto Belli's argument." pp. $16.95) Ignatius Press Those old enough to be Chestertonians and . Palladius: Dialogue on the Life of Sf. John those young enough to have been improperly edu- Chrysostom (translated by Robert T. Meyer - New- cated in ignorance of "the great one" will appreciate man Press, 249 pp., no price) these five dozen excerpts from G. K.'s disquisitions This volume is part of the Ancient Christian Writ- on poetry, literature, England, man, woman, philoso- ers'series initiated four decades ago by Fr. Johannes phy, politics, the Church. Quasten. Palladius was an eremite of the late fourth- Fr. Fessio has made a valuable contribution to early fifth century, a contemporary of St. Jerome, who culture with this one. went on to be consecrated a bishop by John Chrysos- tom, whose defender he became when the saint was deposed. His dialogue on Chrysostom is intended to Henry Hyde, For Every Idle Silence, (Servant clear his patron's name, to provide evidence in the re- Publication, 135 pp.) cord of what a true Christian bishop should be. Pal- Congressman Hyde eloquently lays out his ladius was biased in favor of John, admittedly. views on abortion, religious freedom, school prayer, and other conflicts between Church and State. The book demonstrates anew that Henry Hyde is an un- usual politician, a devout Christian who bases his political views on Christianity and a sophisticated politician. Seven chapters range from religion and politics, the U. S. Constitution, clergy and politics, ending with "Some Thoughts on Liberation Theology." . VlastislavJ. Chalupa,CatholicPolitics,An Examination, Regnery Gateway, Inc., 47 pp. $2.00. Catholic Politics, An Examination examines the Catholic Church's relationship to society and matters of the state. This essay not only addresses the spe- cial needs of Catholic laypersons, but readers of all faiths, who find themselves bewildered by a tolerance toward vice in American society. Chalupa articulates Church laypersons' need to stand against moral in- fringements by the State "into areas traditionally in her domain." In short, Chalupa introduces ideas and reforms for politics "that are in accordance with the Catholic faith." In nine penetrating sections, Chalupa outlines political reforms which are both compatible and com- plementary to a Christian moral order. Highlighted is- , U"'" contribution sues include discussions on "State-Church Relation- Bradley will be ap- ships," "The State," "Economy," "Population Policies & Ecology," and "International Relations." 16 l Volume 9, Number 2 Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Newsletter March 1986

Review Essay: Juan Segundo Responds

In November 1985, Uruguayan Jesuit, Juan Luis pean" theology. They started directly from the concrete Segundo, published a book-length rebuttal' of an offi- experience by the Latin American people of oppression cial document issued by the Sacred Congregation for and slavery, and the people's spontaneous movements the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) on August 6, 1984.2 to liberate itself from this socio-economic and political Segundo's frankly avowed purpose is to demonstrate injustice by whatever means-Marxist analysis of the that the CDF Instruction presupposes "a particular class struggle, violent revolution, guerrilla warfare, the theology" which is neither that of the Church nor of ballot-box-whatever. Second, he maintains kthat the magisterium; nor is it, for that matter, reconcilable spontaneous movement of the people toward socio- with "the theology of Vatican II." In fact, he maintains, economic-political liberation as well as the praxis of that it is out of kilter with Roman Catholic tradition; and its liberation come from a supernatural urge,and are on the author, Cardinal Ratzinger, is lamentably ignorant same plane as supernatural salvation. Third, how do we about liberation theology. The stakes are high, for know that the liberation movement and its praxis are on Segundo: "I understand that my theology (that is, my a supernatural level? From the Second Council of interpretation of Christian Faith) is false if the theol- Orange (Orange 11)5 and from the teaching of Pope Paul ogy of the document is true-or if it is the only true VI, Segundo answers.6 Drawing on the theological one." The theology of the Instruction is doubly repel- studies of Leopold Malevez, S.J.7 and , lant for him because it was put together "not merely S.J.,8 Segundo quickly concludes that the Church re- out of fear... A certain measure of malevolence was gards as a preparation for the supernatural "everything necessary." Further on, he also ascribes ignorance to that is good and true that is found among people who Ratzinger. live according to their highest potential and in accord The Response being a densely written book re- with their conscience." Segundo's quick conclusion: the plete with intellectual turmoil, the most practical way liberation movement of Latin American people - and of reviewing it is to explicate Segundo's basictheol- therefore the theology evolved by liberation theologians ogy in the Response. In Segundo's mind, the term based on an analysis of the shared praxis of that socio- salvation is usually reserved to mean the atonement economic liberation movement - is supernatural, is the that Christ by his life and sacrifice performed for the result of divine grace, is part of the road to sanctity. For personal sins of each man and woman. But the term who willi deny that in liberating themselves the people liberation covers that salvation secondarily; primarily, are not living according to their "highest potential" and it covers socio-political liberation-a freeing from "in accord with their conscience"? what Segundo calls "social sin," and which he trum- To bolster his argument Segundo refers to Pope pets as the sin effectively negated by Christ's action Paul VI's statement: the Church, in Vatican II has defini- as savior of mankind. His thought would seem to be tively turned and adopted "theanthropocentric positions that there is no freeing from personal sin (i.e. no per- of modern culture," Segundo paraphrases and quotes sonal salvation) unless primarily there is a freeing Paul VI. Paul VI, Segundo concludes, returned to the from "social sin"-i.e. socio-economic liberation is Catrholic religion its instrumentalcharacter. Religious the basis for salvation from personal sin. faith, in PaulVI's optic, must be of practical use in estab- The basic theological flaw in liberation theology, lishing the anthropocentric positions of modern culture; according to the CDF document, is that it is "reduc- religion, rightly understood, humanized the person. For tionist" and "secularizing." In effect, the Instruction our religion to be truly in accord with what Paul VI laid maintains, Christian salvation has always been and down, Segundo reasons, it must be instrumental in aid- must always be understood as salvation from per- ing "the anthropocentric positions of modern culture." sonal sin. For sin is a personal act. But Segundo's lib- Now, what position of modern culture is more an- eration theology understands Christian salvation as thropocentric and, at the same time, the follow-through primarily socio-economic-political, and only second- of a definitely supernatural preparation and the begin- arily personal. Segundo must deal with the reproach ning of true belief, than the self-liberating movement of that liberation theology takes the sacred process of the Latin American people and the theology based on Christ's atonement for personal sin and "reduces" it their movement - liberation theology? to an essentially secular principle of action. For, if it The Instruction's theology is wrong he says, be- does that, what then is the distinction between nature cause it separates and compartmentalizes the profane and grace? Did Christ die in order to sacralize the and the sacred, the natural and the supernatural, when revolution and the nation state? it accuses liberation theologians of engaging in purely Segundo responds to this reproach in three steps. secular affairs and matters-the politics of revolution, First, Latin American theologians like himself did not and so on. Ineffect,the Instruction's theology is destruc- start from the abstract theorizing of traditional "Euro- tive of Vatican II's theology, deserts tradition as found in - 17 Volume 9, Number 2 Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Newsletter March 1986

Review Essay: Juan Segundo Responds

Orange II, and abandons the already supernatural can be gauged from its consequences in Segundo's movements of the people. reasoning. For it is shot through with a cunning am- But, with this type of reasoning, Segundo has en- biguity in the use of terms-theological and other. tered into a thicket of difficulties. Both Malevez and You can see this in his use of the term magisterium. Rahner are almost boringly periphrastic and careful to The Instruction is a document of the ordinary - point out that they are talking about the preparation for terium, therefore fallible and subject to error (emphasis the beginning of supernatural belief, and not about any- is Segundo's); the function of the theologian is to thing consciously known or any physical and percepti- mediate between the fallible formulae of the ordinary ble movement of body or mind. They must. For there is magisterium and the laity in order to detect the error in no way in God's world that Orange II's language can be the ordinary magisterium and thus to find "the most brought to mean that a socio-economic movement- human solution." This Instruction is Ratzinger's per- economic, social political or military in the means that it sonal effusion as a "European" theologian. In fact, adopts-can be identified with what Orange II calls the Segundo lauds Karl Rahner, S.J. as "the ideal judge of initium fidei. The initium fidei is, first of all, a spiritual en- what is or is not in accord with the teachings of the tity and supernatural in its aim according to Orange II. Church's magisterium in the modern, post-conciliar Secondly, its place of adhesion and of action is the soul. period." Rahner has just been quoted by Segundo as Thirdly, its proper effects are within the soul. Orange II guaranteeing the orthodoxy of Gustavo Gutierrez' liber- was talking about supernatural salvation, Le.the attain- ation theology. ment of Heaven, by meansof supernatural faith in God, Here now finally is the theologian (Rahner, Gutier- in His Church, and in the Church's doctrines as a means rez, or Segundo) mediating between the ordinary toward that supernatural salvation. Neither Semi-Pela- magisterium of Ratzinger (and presumably Pope John gians, nor Augustinians, nor Caesarius, nor Boniface II Paul II) and the very puzzled laity. And here also ap- were thinking of socio-economic-political liberation pears that very shadowy entity in Segundo's whole movementsthen or at any time. The beginningof super- theology-"the Church's magisterium." The Response natural faith was their subject. explains that this magisterium is not that of the Pope nor Segundo's use of Pope PaulVI's words amountsto that of the bishops united with the Pope, nor of single a grave, self-serving distortion-one ofthe major distor- bishops, but is to be found in the explanations and tions of Vatican II that has been skillfully used in the teachings of single theologians such as Segundo or post-conciliar period. That Pontiff made his attitude Guitierrez who have had the inestimable liberation quite clear in all his words: the Church will not baptize movements of Latin American peoples. revolutionary movements-however justified-or To "sin," Segundo ascribes a new primary mean- socio-economic structures or political systems. All an- ing: social sin. Once he asserts that the primary libera- thropocentric positions are the Church's interest be- tion effected by Christ as the suffering, dying, and resur- cause of redeemed man who is involved in those posi- rected Savior of mankind is a liberation from socio- tions. economic-political oppression, then it must follow that By now, it must become clear that Segundo es- the primary sin overcome by that savior is a sin of the pouses a theology which differs considerablyfrom what socio-economic-political order of human things. For would be readily recognized as the theology reflected in Christ died specifically on account of sin. Segundo and the documents of the papal magisteriumfor the last 400 his colleagues arrive therefore at that primary concept years. Segundo, in fact, makes no bones about this: his of "social sin:"... "the ruthless dog-eats-dog philosophy theology is different, he says, and he describes it for us. of capitalism." The System is the sinner-and all those There has been in the past, he says "European" who participate in the System partake in the System's theology which contained"important elements common sin. He derides the Instruction which states that "the full to the Christian faith" united with "elementsproper to the ambit of sin whose first effect is to introduce disorder context from which it emerged."Then there came a new into the relationship between God and man cannot be theology "the theology of the Council (Vatican II)."That restricted to 'social sin.' " This theology of the Instruc- "European" theology united with "the theology of the tion, Segundo sneers, "is built on a kind of textbook Council" led him and his Latin American colleagues to Platonism," is a "particular new theology" containing "take new and often unexpected directions," and to "caricatures of some elements of liberation theology," develop a "post-conciliar North Atlantic theology:" liber- and comes from a European (Cardinal Ratzinger) for ation theology.9It matters little to Segundo that Vatican whom "the 'really real' is the invisible world, while the II reaffirmedall that Vatican I andthe Tridentine Council world about us is mere shadow and simulacrum," and stated. How different this "post-conciliar North Atlantic who "reads Europan phenomena and tendencies into a theology" is from traditional Roman Catholic theology non-European context."

18 Iii. Volume 9, Number 2 Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Newsletter March 1986

Review Essay: Juan Segundo Responds

"Noone," he adds, "doubts that society is the 'sub- Mustn't he know how much has been already pub- ject'of social sin." The fact of this important theological licized about the febrile activities of diocesan clergy-in- matter is that the Church not merely doubts that society cluding bishops-of and religious men (Carme- is the subject of social sin; the Church deniesthis, insist- lites, Franciscans, Jesuits, Maryknollers) in organizing ing that sin in its theological sense is a personal devia- the some 600,000 base communities throughout Latin tion of a personalwill in manorwoman. Iften million per- America as political action committees and guerrilla sonal wills deviate in regardto one law-say, in procur- fighter reservoirs? Mustn't he know of the role played by ing abortions, the Church saysyou have at leastten mil- the religious clergy in doing the same in Sandinista lion personal sins, but not one collective or social sin. In Nicaragua? If Segundo wishes, one can even trace no way can you speak theologically of one "social" sin some of the "foreign" financing that certain base com- for that ten million, unless you are speaking metaphori- munities have received. The ribbon-trail always passes cally. But Segundo is not speaking metaphorically. Nor through Havana and over beyond the Iron Curtain. is the Church. Segundo, of course, does not quote his onetime He is speakingthus becausehe has unconsciously papal idol, Paul VI, who spoke specifically about the absorbed the Marxist-Leninistviewpoint of human soci- base communities that "make up"the popular Church:1O ety according to which human society is simplistically "the followers of Christ are therefore not permitted to but lethallydivided by the classic notionof classstruggle imagine that Christ's Church is nothing more than a col- into the "proleteriat," one collectivity, which is sinned lection (divided but still possessing a certain unity) of against by the other collectivity, the capitalist Churches and ecclesial communities." bourgeoisie. But Segundo's error here obviously de- So it will not do for Segundo to speak of the pends on his antecedent notion of the relationship be- phenomenon of the popular Church and simply pass on. tween nature and grace-his basic theological devia- As a theologian, how does he judge it? Obviously, for tion. him it is God-inspired and God-moved. What then of its Before he gets to his final goal-the Warning- submission to the successors of the apostles, the Segundo proceeds to puzzle over, gnaw at, slice up, bishops, and to the ordinary magisterium of the Holy bother, suture together and tear apart, ridicule and Father? Is the popular Church a new constituent part of minimize anyone clear meaning for a whole series of the hierarchic Church? Has it teaching authority? If so, concepts and terms. Marxism?-no one can really say from whom? By what authority does each base commu- what it is. Ideology?-this can be so many things that nity choose its own prayers, the type of "Mass" it ac- the Instruction's use is muddy. Orthodox?-it doesn't cepts, the kind of bread and wine used for Consecration, mean "true," whatever it means. Class struggle?- the causes it supports, the priest who serves it? there's always been a class struggle, so what makes it Theologically, one awaits in vain a judgment - or such a typically Marxist concept? Poor?-of course it series of responsible judgements-from Segundo. means economically poor when used by Christ or Vati- None are forthcoming, for the simple reason that for a can II; and proletariat can mean poor in spirit. long time now Segundo, as is clear from his book, has Church?-this is "the People of God" who are Catholic no interest whatever in propagating the hierarchic and who are in the base communities and thus form "the Church of Roman Catholicism and its dogmatic teach- popular Church," the Church. ing. Segundo's credo is roundedout with his concept of Clearly, from the entire context of his thought and "the popular Church." The popular Church arose spon- these last few pages, Segundo believes in a "Church" taneously among the people. It is made up of the base magisterium that is not the exclusive domain of Pope or communities, all of whom are "ecclesial." If priests and bishops. There is now since Vatican II the magisterium bishops assume leadership roles in it, this is not ajuridi- of "the popular Church," of "the People of God," under cal relationship-just good leadership. the impulse of the Holy Spirit. With that keystone in But, of course, all this is not very ingenuous on his place, Segundo's view of what the Church is and does part; and it simply flies in the face of known and widely becomes clear. It is not the Church of the Council of published facts. Trent, of Vatican I or Vatican II. It is not the Church af- He cannot credibly present the base communities firmed by the 1985 November-December Synod (which as spontaneous assemblies of simple Catholics he feared so much). It is precisely what Paul VI, in Mys- discussing their problems prayerfully and peacefully, terium Fidei, denounced as impermissible: "a collection only rarely baking "workers' bread" or throwing a stone of churches and ecclesial communities." But it is also at a capitalist truck. The fact is that the base community something more pernicious. It is a rogue "Church" stam- network has been from the beginning and still is being peding hundreds of thousands of uneducated but faith- deliberately established by instructed cadres imbued ful believers with un-Catholic doctrine and socio-politi- with the principles of Marxist-Leninist revolution. cal aims disguised as inspirations of the Holy Spirit. 19 "J

Volume 9, Number 2 Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Newsletter March 1986

Review Essay: Juan Segundo Responds

For the theologian, who reads the Response,there of St. Augustine's De Praedestinatione Sanctorum. is a brittle quality to Segundo's theories, a sense that Caesarius' feast day as a saint is on August 27. you are being asked to put together a jigsaw puzzle 6. Principally in his closing speech at Vatican II, on De- cember 5, 1965. made from ice crystals; handling them, your fingers go 7. Malevez's studies are to be found in his classnotes cold on nothing cohesive. As a tract, Segundo's Re- and in a 43-page article: La Gratuite du Surnatural in sponse, in sum, will be seen as scarredand flawed. Am- Nouvelle Revue TMologique, Juin-Juiliet-AoOt 1953. biguity of words, disdain for the Supreme Pontiff, dis- 8. Rahner's chief contribution was in Eine Antwort, trust for the CDF, ascription of base motives to his cri- Orientierung, Katholische Blatter tilr weltanschauliche In- formation, Nr. 12/13, pp. 138-145; Zurich, June 30,1950. tics, tenuous theological grounding, selective and ec- 9. Response, pp. 74-75 lectic useof papalstatements,theologically risque aser- 10. Mysterium Ecclesiae, document published by the tions, and finally an arrogance knowing no bounds CDF with Pope Paul VI's approval and command, in June which impels himto takeon the functionreserved for the 1973. Supreme Pontifforsomeone authorizedby the Pontiffto speak to the Church Universal with the authority of Christ himself, and to warn the Holy Roman Catholic Items of Interest and Apostolic Church that the Pontiff and his CDF Pre- fect are endeavoring to foist on the Church a strange and peculiar doctrine, destructive of the Church's Fellowship member Stephen Krason has magisterium(!), contrary to papal teaching, rejected by launched The Marian Institute forAdvanced Studies. the faith of "the Peopleof God,"out of stepwith "thenew This will be a Catholic Institute for Tutorial Graduate theology of Vatican II,"and not in keepingwith the action Study and Scholarship in the Humanities and Social of the Holy Spirit. This is morethan arrogance. Sciences. (21 Wellington Road, Upper Darby, PA -Brendan Fitzmaurice 19082.) In many ways Krason's effort is unique be- cause it will have no campus, while tutoring students toward the MA and Ph.D. under the direction of care- FOOTNOTES fully selected and committed Catholic professors, it is modelled after some of the Medieval Universities and 1. Theology and the Church: A Response to Cardinal the present International College (LA). Ratzinger and a Warning to the Whole Church [hereafter; the Response]. A Seabury Book, Winston Press. Min- neapolis, Chicago, New York. Translated by John NYU's Professor Paul Vitz received surprising Diercksmeier. Imprimatur by William N. Addley, S.J., Pro- notice in America magazine (December 7, 1985) for a vincial of Upper Canada. Segundo composed his Re- lecture he gave at the Princeton Club. What drew sponse at Regis College, Toronto, in Addley's jurisdiction. America's attention was Vitz's conclusion that the Addley's imprimatur presupposes the imprimatur of Jesuit country's textbook writers and publishers who serve Father General, Piet Hans Kolvenbach. Segundo has al- ready published several books on liberation theology, nota- public education readily embargo religious subjects. bly: Open-Ended Theology; Grace and the Human Condi- None of the books he surveyed had any textual refer- tion; Our Idea of God; The Sacraments Today: Evolution of ence to actual religious beliefs and practices of the Culpability. major Christian Churches and Judaism. 2. Instruction on Certain Aspects of the "Theology of Liberation," [hereafter: the Instruction]. The Vatican trans- lation into English was printed and sold in the U.S. by the Translator/Publisher Wanted Daughters of St. Paul, Boston MA. The Instruction signed An appeal has been made to the Fellowship to by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Prefect of the CDF, carries encourage the translation and publication of the fol- the usual statement of Pope John Paul II's approval and command to publish the Instruction." lowing book: Les Diaconesses: Essai Historiqueby 3. Response, p. 9 Aime George Martmort (CLU Edizione Liturgiche, 4. Response, p. 78 Roma 00192 - Via Pompeo Magno 21-1982) 5. Convoked in 599 a.d. at Orange (then known as Arausio), in France, by Archbishop Caesarius of Aries, in Gloria Steinem, co-founder and editor of Ms. order to decide definitively between the Semi-Pelagians (Cassian and Faustus of Riez) and the supporters of St. Au- Magazine and Board member of the Ms. Foundation gustine's teaching about grace. Orange II opted for a mod- for Woman, the only national multi-issue grant-giving erate Augustinianism. The Council's Canon and texts were fund of its kind in the United States has joined the ad- confirmed by Pope Boniface II in a letter to Caesarius dated visory committee of the Society for the Right to Die. Jan. 25, 531 a.d., and the Canons of Orange II became nor- mative and still remain so in the Church. Orange II, in The Society for the Right to Die was previously the Canon 5, lays down Church belief about the initium fidei. Euthanasia Society of America. (Society for the Right Canon 5 is really a masterful digest and brilliant summary to Die Newsletter, Spring, 1985)

20 ' Volume 9, Number 2 Fellowsbip of Catholic Scholars Newsletter March 1986 Book Reviews

Michael Mott. The Seven Mountains of Thomas a place for a hermitage, the perfect place for the per- Merton. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1984,690 pp., fect hermitage. Was he attempting to realize an $24.95) ideal beyond realization? Merton's writings reveal a man who seemed to be perennially beset by a kind of Long before his sudden death in December, forelorn homelessness. Was he, perhaps, simply 1968, it had become a kind of standard response to being driven to search out that which had evaded him Thomas Merton to remark on the ironic qualities of his all of his life - a place in which he could feel fully at life. Here was a man who left the world to seek sol- home? itude and anonymity in a Trappist monastery, and he As I mentioned, this biography shows Merton's ended up becoming perhaps one of the best known life to have been problematical. In this respect Mer- American Catholics in the 20th century. Here was a ton's life was scarcely unique, of course, but none- man who belonged to an order whose hallmark was theless one can wonder if his life necessarily had to silence, and he was anything but silent. Through his be as problematical as in fact it was. Could some of prolific writings, Merton talked almost non-stop from the problems which he confronted - problems the late 1940's until the time of his death. We con- which, I feel, had a profoundly disruptive influence on tinue to hear his voice through posthumous publica- his life - have been avoided altogether? What I have tions, and apparently we will hear that voice saying in mind when I ask this question is Merton's writing. new things for some time to come through manu- One of the most significant episodes in Merton's life, scripts which will be published in the future. The re- an episode to which none of the many people who cent biography of Merton, bearing the unfelicitous have written on Merton have given the kind of atten- title The Seven Mountains of Thomas Merton, tell- tion it deserves, relates to his very early years as a ingly brings home the fact that Merton's life was in- monk when he was involved in an intense struggle deed paradoxical, and problematical as well. Thomas with himiself and with others over the matter of his Merton had two essential selves. He was a monk. He writing. It makes an interesting point for meditation, was a writer. These two selves did not get along with especially in view of what Merton actually turned out one another. to be, that when he first arrived at the monastery in This biography, sponsored by the Merton Legacy December, 1941, he was determined to give up writ- Trust, and touted as definitive, has been long ing. His reasoning is revealing. Since the time he was awaited. It was begun shortly after Merton's death by an adolescent Merton had given serious thought to John Howard Griffen, but unfortunately Mr. Griffen becomeing a writer, and when he was a student at died before he was able to complete the work. The Columbia and, later, an instructor at St. Bonaven- project was then reassigned to Michael Mott, a pro- ture's University, he made a concerted effort to es- fessor of English at Bowling Green University, and he tablish himself as one. For about a four year period brought it to completion very successfully. Given the he wrote vigorously, producing fiction, poetry, and in- mass of material Professor Mott had to contend with, cidental pieces, mainly reviews. And then there was his task could not have been an easy one, but he has the journal; with Merton, there was always the jour- nal. But in the aftermath of his conversion to Catholi- given us a book which is well organized, well written, and filled with information which is always interesting cism his attitude toward writing begins to change. if not always edifying. Toward the end of Merton's life . More particularly, he comes to see writing in a things seem-to have unraveled for him. In some re- new light as he grows in the conviction that he has a spects he was a man seriously at odds with himself. priestly and religious vocation. At first, when he was Had he lived, would Merton have remained a thinking about joining the Franciscans his plans were monk at Our Lady of Gethsemani? Would he have re- to combine the writer's life with the religious life; in mained a member of the Cistercian Order? Given the fact, one of the things that attracted him to the Fran- restlessness that characterized the last years of his ciscans was that they had apparently given him as- life, these are not simply rhetorical questions. The surances that he could continue to pursue his writing last few weeks of his life have about them for me an career after he entered their order. Things changed aura of unaccountable sadness. He was spending his dramatically when he decided to enter the Trappists, time, most incongruously, flitting about the globe in however. That decision constituted a second conver- jet planes, traveling alone, taking pictures and taking sion of sorts. Though there is no question that his notes, and paying visits to an assortment of people conversion to Catholicism represented the turning and places; the importance of those visits, for Merton, point in his life, still, in the months immediately follow- for his Order, for the Church, is not self-evident. But ing his entry into the Church, he was deeply unsatis- apparently the primary purpose of this trip was to find fied with his life. He felt that he was making com-

21 ...- Volume 9, Number 2 Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Newsletter March 1986

Book Reviews

promises that he should not be making. The decision ferent monk. But, had this not been the case, would to join the Trappists signified a clean break with the he have been a better monk? world. There would now be no more compromising. - D. Q. Mcinerney He would give himself over to Christ completely, and College of St. Thomas, Minn. all his energies would be devoted to the only thing that really mattered: the pursuit of perfection, the The Christian Meaning of Human Sexuality by transformation of himself in Christ. Paul Quay, S.J., Evanston, III.: A Credo House Book, How did writing fit into this new plan of action? It 1985. v + 113 pp., $6.95 paperback. didn't. Merton now regarded writing, not simply as a trivial pursuit, not simply as a possible distraction During the past decade and a half I have read from. his single-minded dedication to Christian per- scores of books and hundreds~ofarticles on the sub- fection, but - and there is no mistaking his attitude in ject of human sexuality, some atrocious, many banal, this - a downright impediment to sanctity. There is a few of exceptional value. Fr. Quay's book is defi- no good evidence that he was prepared to make nitely among the latter. In fact, it is one of the best generalizations about the matter, but it is abundantly books on human sexuality that I have had the oppor- clear how he interpreted his own case. Writing, for tunity to read. him, would be an obstacle to sanctity. Being a writer, It is a superb book not only because it is intelli- in the only way he knew how to be a writer, and being gent and realistic, rooted in a clearheaded apprecia- a monk, in the only way he wanted to be a monk, were tion for the dignity of human persons and for the pre- incompatible. This is what his instincts told him, and vious goods of human sexuality, but also and above we have every right to suppose that they were his all because it is grounded in a profound faith in the best instincts. When Merton was invested in the habit truths about human persons and human sexuality set of the Cistercians of the Strict Observance he was forth in divine revelation and proposed authoritatively committed to following his best instincts and to give by the Church. up writing entirely, but he was subsequently per- Quay's work builds on the innate, natural sym- suaded to do otherwise. bolism of sexual coition. Sexual coition is a natural . He was not persuadedeasily, however,and in sign of the gift of a male-person to a female-person; it fact it was some few years before he forsook com- is a natural sign of the life-giving meaning of their pletely, presumably, his original conviction that he one-flesh unity. It is a natural sign of their com- should give up being a writer. This is another critical plementary sexuality, for in this act the male, be- fact of his biography the full implications of which cause of his distinctive sexuality, gives himself to the have yet to be fully explored. That Merton's desire to woman and, in giving himself to her, receives her into give up writing was not attributable to whimsy, that it himself, while the female, again because of her dis- cannot rightly be interpreted as an expression of tinctive sexuality, receives the male and, in receiving strained piety on the part of an overly earnest young him, gives herself to him. The act is a sign, a symbol, monk, is attested'to by the length of time he main- of their mutual self-giving. It is, moreover, a symbol of tained that desire, with ardor and tenacity, and in the the life-giving character of their union, for in and face of what seems to have been united opposition on through this act they open themselves to the gift of the part of his superiors. The situation was odd, to life, to the blessing of fertility (a theme of Pope John say the least. It was not a matter of Merton requesting Paull! that is wonderfully captured by Quay). his superiors for permission to write; rather, he was The natural symbolism of the coital act, in which asking them for permission not to write. And they, for the complementary sexuality of male and female is so their part, were urging him to continue to write, telling beautifully expressed, takes on, as Quay shows, an him that writing was a proper component of his voca- even deeper significance when we realize, in the light tion. He tried to change their minds more than once, of God's revealing word, that it is a fitting sign of but to no avail. He even appealed directly to the God's life-giving love for his people, of Christ's life- Abbot General, but that too proved to be a fruitless giving and redemptive love for his spouse, the gesture; the Abbot General simply confirmed what Church. Merton's local superiors had already told him, that he The symbolism, the sacramental significance, of was to consider writing as part of his monastic voca- the coital act is, Quay shows, fully respected when tion. It was his duty to continue to write. this act is freely chosen by a man and a woman who Merton succumbed, at first as an act of religious have, through their own free and self-determining obedience. But eventually he succumbed in quite a choice, made each other irreplaceable and nonsub- different way. He became the consummate writer; he stitutable spouses. In particular, when the man and became a writer with a vengeance. Had this not been woman who choose this act and respect its person- the case, unquestionably he would have been a dif- uniting and life-giving significance are already, 22 Volume 9, Number 2 Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Newsletter March 1986 Book Reviews

through baptism, indissolubly united to Christ, it is a magnificent "theology of the body" developed by sign or symbol of Christ's indissoluble union with his Pope John Paul II, and that he knows whereof he Church. As such it is not only an act that is morally speaks. His book, in my judgment, should be particu- good, true to its symbolic significance, but holy, a sign larly appealing to young people who are seeking to of Christ's savi.nggift of himself to his Church. discern the meaning of their sexuality; it will be of As Quay shows, nonmarital and extramarital sex great value to married couples; and it should be read are falsehoods, lies that betray the symbolic signifi- by all who want to minister, in the light of God's reve- cance of coital union. This meaning, Quay likewise lation as proposed by the Church, to the deepest shows, is not only falsified but aped and counterfeited needs of God's people. by masturbatory, homosexual, and contracepted - William E. May genital choices. The fullness of being human is revealed to us in Pennock, Michael. Prayer and You: A Journey the mystery of Christ, who was himself a virgin and with the Lord. Notre Dame, Indiana: Ave Maria Press, spoke to his disciples of those who become eunuchs 1985. for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, and in the mystery of his Mother, ever virgin. What this means is Michael Pennock's textbook, Prayer and You: A that virginity accepted as a response to the sovereign Journey with the Lord, designed for high school stu- claims of God's kingdom is of transcendent signifi- dents, is a thought-provoking and comprehensive cance for Christians, whether they be married or un- presentation on Christian prayer. This book com- married. Quay brilliantly develops this truth. Integrity, bines practical suggestions for ways of praying with a self-possession, is necessary if we are to be fully the sensitive and deeply spiritual explanation of the im- beings we are meant to be and called to be in Christ. portance of prayer in our lives. While much emphasis Such integrity is possible only if we have the virtue of is placed on meditative and contemplative prayer, the chastity. Those who choose celibacy for the sake of importance of ritual and traditional prayer is clearly the kingdom remind us of our vocation, which is a vo- presented. cation to love, and to love as we have been and are Mr. Pennock's use of developmental psychologi- loved in Christ. They freely accept celibacy, at the cal techniques facilitates both the understanding and sacrifice of family life and the beautiful reality of mar- appreciation of the importance of God in our lives and riage, in order to love more fully. But even Christians the need to come to know Him through a conscious who do not choose celibacy must be integral, chaste. surrender to Him through prayer. For them a 'situational' celibacy is required. Prior to The teacher's manual presents clearly defined marriage they must be celibate if they are to honor educational objectives for each lesson and many properly the precious goods of human sexuality and useful activities to reinforce the basic themes of each the human persons in whom these goods are meant chapter. Lists of both bibliographic and audio-visual to flourish. Even within marriage they must realize resources are also provided to enhance the teacher's that marital love itself can at times require celibacy, understanding of the various aspects of prayer being when the genital embrace, far from being a sign of ob- studied. lative marital love, is its betrayal (e.g., when a spouse - Janice D'Avignon is sick, absent, etc.). Self-possession, which is possi- ble only if, through chastity, we come into possession of our sexual desires and do not let them take pos- A Prayer session of us, is necessary for full human love and for for Catholic Scholars fully reverencing the meaning of our sexuality. All this Quay develops in a vigorous, intellectually challeng- 0 Lord of power and truth and love, From whom all wisdom flows - ing, and faith-filled way. In whose eternal light man holds This brief work is a magnificent and eloquent Whatever truth he knows: presentation of the Christian meaning of human sex- Sustain our work of scholarship; uality, one grounded in a profound faith and respect Protect us from false pride; for the great human goods toward which we are di- Remind us that our feeble light rected by our sexual nature. Quay's insightful des- Must in your Word abide; criptions of the complementarity of male and female, Remind us that the man of faith a complementarity that is psychological and spiritual Need not in darkness grope - as well as bodily, are exceptionally illuminating. It is That Peter still confirms us evident that he has pondered the biblical teaching on When we listen to the Pope. human sexuality, that he has meditated deeply on the - Owen Bennett, Ofm. conv.

23 .. Volume 9, Number 2 Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Newsletter March 1986

Note: Fellowship Members Item of Interest Harvard Plans for Millennium We are reminded that 1985-1986 dues - $20.00 - are overdue in some cases. Since the costs of the of Ukrainian Christianity (988-1988A.D.) Newsletter alone now totals $4.00 per issue, it is im- portant that one of our 1986 resolutions be "Pay the One thousand years of Christianity in Ukraine Fellowship" dues. Please send the appropriate will be commemorated in collaboration with the Har- amount to Dr. Joseph Scottino, Executive Secretary vard Ukrainian Research Institute. Scholarly plans in- Treasurer, Gannon University, Erie, PA 16541. cluded republication of ancient Ukrainian writings, an encyclopedia of church history, and an international conference on the Christianization of Kiev-Rus. Moreover, funds for the chair in the-history of religi- Friend of the Fellowship ous thought in Ukraine at the Harvard Divinity School are being raised. The Millennium Project is carried Bishop Lawrence P. Graves out under active advice of the Director of the Institute.

Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Newsletter Non-Profit Org Published by St. John's University U.S. Postage Jamaica, New York 11439 PAID Jamaica. NY Permit No. 451

Special Item

and Fr. Charles ritGi~tRime b'btto misleal!i me IStrying to correct. As schema on Catholic higher education. The November through the diocesan press, 21 release cited oPPosJti.ont n about the Baum a~men~t ve r absolutely right, it is "a red herring to claim that Catholic colleges will if somewhat late. lose $500 million in federal funds because of thi,sim~

basic issue.") The basic issue, of course,is whether Baum, goes to several offices of the USCC, which CattlOlic colleges are or want tp be "really Catholic." no mention was made of the Fel-

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